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COURT OF APPEAL RULES ON LANDMARK END OF LIFE CASE.

TORONTO, June 29, 2011 /CNW/ - The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
applauds the unanimous decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal to
uphold a lower court decision which requires that doctors obtain
consent from substitute decision-makers before unilaterally withdrawing
life-support where such a decision is anticipated to result in the
death of the patient.

The unanimous Court of Appeal ruled that it is necessary for doctors to
raise any objections or concerns they may have about consent before the
Ontario Consent and Capacity Board who has the jurisdiction to
determine the issue of consent and to address any challenges to that
consent made by a doctor.

This decision has profound implications for patients throughout Ontario
and Canada in terms of feeling safe and secure in accessing medical
services near the end of life, says Euthanasia Prevention Coalition Executive Director Alex
Schadenberg, whose organization intervened in the Appeal.

A contrary decision would have effectively provided doctors with
unilateral authority to withdraw life-support and end the life of a
patient without any oversight, due process or procedural safeguards to
patients, says Toronto lawyer Hugh Scher, who represented the EPC at the Court
of Appeal.

Today's ruling is perhaps the most significant end of life decision ever
made by a Canadian court. It suggests that other provinces ought to be
looking at implementing a similar regime of a board or tribunal to
address such matters where they arise, according to Mark Handelman, who is a former Vice-Chair of the Consent
and Capacity Board and who also served as counsel to EPC on their
intervention.